Gamble Tallies Five as No. 19 Diplomats Stop Bullets

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Martin Manilla (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) tied a career-high with six goals, but Franklin & Marshall ended the game on a 3-1 run as the 19th-ranked Diplomats edged the Bullets 14-12 in a big Centennial lacrosse contest Wednesday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.

The extremely tight contest featured 10 ties and three lead changes. Neither side led by more than two goals.

With just one conference game left, the Bullets (8-6, 4-3 CC) now find themselves tied with Ursinus College for fourth place in the conference standings. The top-four teams qualify for the Centennial Conference playoffs.

Chad Gamble posted five goals and one assist to lead F&M (12-3, 6-1 CC) while Michael Bossidy and Will Ballantyne notched two goals and two assists apiece. Cameron Setian registered six saves.

Playing its regular-season home finale, Gettysburg tied the game at 11-11 with 14:13 remaining on Maddux's final goal before the Diplomats pulled away.

Manilla and Gamble traded goals three times to open the game, and Gamble's third tally made it 3-3 with 6:26 on the first-quarter clock. The Diplomats would add two more goals to assume a 5-3 lead before Manilla struck again with three seconds showing to make it a 5-4 game heading into the second quarter.

The Bullets added two more goals to start the period and take a 6-5 lead. Junior short-stick midfielder Jack Harvazinski (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) scored just nine seconds into the quarter before senior Derek Ruebling (Morristown, N.J./Delbarton) got into the act with 12:53 showing.

Franklin & Marshall answered with a 3-1 spurt to assume an 8-7 advantage with 4:34 left in the quarter, with Manilla scoring his fifth goal of the half with 9:58 to go. Sophomore Paul Werner (Westfield, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) scored with 2:03 showing to knot the score at 8-8 heading into the locker room.

Neither side was able to pull away early in the second half, as the two teams traded goals three more times over a 15:47 stretch. Maddux sandwiched a pair of goals around Manilla's final tally, and his last goal tied the game at 11-all.

Philip Gamble put F&M on top to stay when he scored with 7:26 remaining. Gettysburg's man-down unit would go on to kill off two penalties that overlapped, including a 29-second stretch in which F&M held a two-man advantage. However, the Diplomat would find paydirt with 5:20 left, when Bossidy scored a man-down goal in transition to make it 13-11.

Manilla had a shot ring off the crossbar before feeding sophomore Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) on a goal that cut the deficit to one with 3:23 remaining. Gettysburg held off F&M during another one-minute man-up opportunity inside the final three minutes, but Chad Gamble added an insurance goal when he struck just before a 30-second warning expired to set the final score with 1:15 to go.

The Bullets play their regular-season finale on Saturday, when they visit McDaniel College in a Centennial Conference game starting at 1:00 p.m.

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GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Chad Gamble netted five goals to lead No. 19 Franklin & Marshall to a 14-12 victory over Gettysburg in Centennial lacrosse action Wednesday evening. The win is the third straight over the Bullets for F&M. The Diplomats improved to 12-3, 6-1 CC, while the Bullets dropped to 8-6, 4-3 CC.